Southeast Asia Tsunami Alert Lowered

A massive earthquake hit off the west coast of Indonesia, triggering a tsunami warning in the same region where a 2004 tsunami killed more than 200,000. Eric Bellman has details on Lunch Break from Jakarta. Photo: AP

By

Eric Bellman

Updated April 11, 2012 8:34 p.m. ET

JAKARTA—A massive earthquake and strong aftershock rattled Indonesia's westernmost province of Aceh on Wednesday, spurring fears of a tsunami in the same region where a 2004 tsunami killed more than 200,000.

Indonesian authorities say five people had heart attacks and died after two large earthquakes triggered back-to-back tsunami warnings. No other deaths were reported, but several people were injured as they tried to flee to high ground, according to the Associated Press.

ENLARGE

The 8.6-magnitude earthquake was felt as far away as Thailand, Malaysia and India. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center had issued a tsunami watch Wednesday afternoon in Asia but later canceled it, saying that while a tsunami was generated by the quake, the threat for most areas had diminished.

The initial alert said the tsunami watch was in effect from Indonesia to India, Sri Lanka, Australia, Somalia, Oman, Iran, Bangladesh, Kenya, South Africa and Singapore.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said early reports were that there was limited damage. "There is no tsunami threat," he said Wednesday evening ahead of a news conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron. "The tsunami early-warning system is working well and at the moment there are no casualties."

Photos

Residents of Banda Aceh evacuated after the tsunami warning. European Pressphoto Agency

Read More

India also canceled its tsunami warnings and alerts for several states and territories, including the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Indian Ocean.

In a statement, India's Home Ministry said it had asked the chief secretaries of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and all east-coast states, to advise fishermen not to venture out to sea and to take other precautions. Teams from the National Disaster Response Force were placed on standby in case they were needed to carry out emergency relief efforts, the agency said.

ENLARGE

The U.S. Geological Survey said the powerful quake was centered about 30 kilometers beneath the ocean floor, about 500 kilometers from Aceh's provincial capital.

Indonesian television news showed crowded roads as people tried to drive away from the coast.

"It felt like the earthquake back when we had a tsunami in 2004," said driver and Aceh resident Edi, who like many Indonesians goes by one name. "Everybody ran around in a panic and we ran up a hill."

People in Banda Aceh screamed "God is great!" as they jumped into cars and onto the backs of motorcycles, clogging streets as they fled to high ground, according to the Associated Press.

Coastal residents in Sri Lanka were told to move to higher ground. Thailand's National Disaster Warning Center issued an evacuation orderto residents in six provinces along the country's west coast, including the popular tourist destinations of Phuket, Krabi and Phang-Nga. Thailand later canceled its tsunami warning.

Quakes in the Region

Indonesia sits atop a web of fault lines that makes the sprawling archipelago prone to volcanic and seismic activity. A giant 9.1-magnitude quake off the country on Dec. 26, 2004, triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed 230,000 people., nearly three-quarters of them in Aceh.Experts said the kind of devastation seen in the 2004 disaster and last year in Japan was caused by a particular type of earthquake. During Wednesday's quake, the tectonic plates were likely shifting sideways rather than up and down, leaving less of a chance for the giant waves, said Susanne Sergeant, a seismologist at the British Geological Survey.

Indonesia's government has improved its monitoring of earthquake data since then by positioning buoys to take sea-level readings and warn of potential tsunamis. Officials have noted the problem of getting timely information to people who live in remote areas of coastal Sumatra.

"The earthquake today was different from that in 2004 off Aceh and in Japan" last year, and less likely to create massive water displacement, she said.

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.